With the offering of food, the brothers were able to secure Parsley's reluctant aid in again gathering any and all cats with the slightest interest in the clans. It took them the better part of the day to get the word out, and that night Root had difficulty sleeping, knowing that the next day he would have to somehow convince them to join him on his sudden and unusual journey.
That morning, they left their den extra early to hunt. They each caught a piece of prey, but one went to Parsley, their payment for his help, and they shared the other. Root didn't think he would be able to eat a whole bird by himself anyway, his stomach was too full of anxiety.
Some that came to the first gathering had lost interest in the clans and did not make an appearance, but there also came others that were not there before. New cats with a new interest.
Parsley sat on his log, washing his face, and waiting. Root and his brother waited on the ground, a few paces away from the log, as inconspicuous as they could manage.
None of the gathering cats knew what exactly this was all about, just that it had to do with the clans.
Whispers arose from waiting cats.
"What does he have to say?"
"I thought Parsley told us everything he knew."
"Did he forget something last time?"
"He is old."
Root noticed with amusement, that Parsley's ears flicked back slightly at that last comment.
When it seemed that the flow of arriving cats had stemmed, and when Root could sense that the time had come, Parsley cast them the briefest of glances, and sat up straight. The gathered cats fell silent, their curiosity burning.
"My friends," Parsley said, "I must confess, that I am not the cat that you came here to listen to today. I won't give my personal opinion on what this cat has to say, but I think that he, like anyone else, deserves to be heard. I encounter many strange cats on my travels, and he is among them, but he is not the strangest of them all, and even the strangest was worth lending an ear."
The gathered cats shared curious, confused, and exasperated looks in the small pause that Parsley gave, but none seemed to have anything to say. Not yet at least.
"I suppose I have rambled long enough," Parsley sighed, "So, please turn your attention to my young friend here, Root."
He tensed up as the old cat's gaze fell on him, followed by those of many others. Root found that he could not move under the weight of their attention. What was he doing here?
"You can do it," Deer whispered, headbutting his shoulder.
At last, Root drew a breath, and joined Parsley up on the log. He met the old cat's gaze, and found that he was too afraid to look at his audience.
"Don't waste this," Parsley muttered, "I won't help you again."
Closing his eyes, Root turned towards the crowd, then slowly opened them again. His gaze wanted to dart around, frantic, but he tried to keep it steady and unfocused. If he paid too much attention to the many cats he could see before him, he feared that he wouldn't be able to speak.
Where to begin? No matter what he said, he was sure that most, if not all, of the cats present would think that he was crazy. It would probably be best not to mention the whole, being told to do it by his dead mother in a dream, thing.
He didn't know how many cats shared in what Deer's and his mother taught them about the stars, if any, and it wasn't a risk he was willing to take at that moment.
"After hearing about the clans, and giving it some thought," Root said, deciding to get straight to the point, "My brother and I have decided to travel northeast, to join the clans, and perhaps, start our own clan. We welcome anyone interested to join us."
There was an eruption of chatter among the cats, and it was hard to make out what anyone was saying. He gathered from their body language that many cats didn't like the idea, were uncertain, or wary.
"Listen!" Deer shouted over the noise, as he stepped up to the base of the log.
The cats quieted down, and Root said, "Deer and I have lived our entire lives here, as I'm sure most, if not all, of you have. We don't make this decision lightly. Over the years I have seen and heard of cats dying, the elderly forgotten and uncared for as soon as their own kits deem them unuseful, kits starving, freezing, or being taken away by twolegs."
He paused to gauge their reactions, and give them a moment to think about what he said. It wasn't that Hound was one of the only cats who cared about her kin enough to take care of them, the problem was that few could afford to. Hound had paid with the lives of her kits, Deer was right about that, but Root hated that it was necessary to choose.
"A cat can get by here, if they are young and healthy, and capable of hunting for himself, but in a clan they help each other, all cats get a chance to live! The clans also aren't here, among twolegs, who not only steal our kits, but scare away our prey, and befriend dangerous animals like dogs," Deer glanced sharply over his shoulder at Root's mention of dogs, and it added fuel to Root's growing frustration with the way everyone was living, "Dogs that kill us for fun and not because their twolegs don't feed them enough!"
Root drew a breath to calm himself as old memories came creeping back. There was one memory of his mother that had been burned into his mind, never fading. Lifeless green eyes, still wide with fear.
"If you don't want to join us, then that's fine, you can leave here and forget all about it, but if you do wish to join us, we leave tomorrow morning. Meet us here."
He did not wait to see their reactions, Root simply hopped down from the log and made his way out of the clearing, his brother only a half step behind.
"I'll admit," Deer said as they made the walk back to the old fox den, "I still had my doubts about this whole thing, but I think you're right about some of that stuff you said."
"Some of it?" Root asked, throwing his brother a smile over his shoulder.
"Hey, it's not me you had to convince, don't get too confident until we see who shows up tomorrow."
"Is there anyone that you think will come?"
"Don't ask me, I don't want to guess, or even hope. A lot of cats around here don't like change, they're untrusting of strangers, and suspicious of new ideas."
"I know, but I have hope anyway, mother did say that there are cats who will follow."
When the sun had barely begun to rise, Root was awakened by his brother, who insisted that they spend some time hunting and catch as much prey as they could.
"If other cats show up, we don't want to start our journey with any empty bellies," Deer had said.
The brothers managed three pieces of prey, a small rat, a dove, and a squirrel.
They decided not to eat until they were sure that every cat had arrived, if any. Then the food could be fairly divided among any who had not eaten.
Parsley was there in the clearing when they arrived, not to join them, but to see them off. The old cat had already given them directions the day before, but he reminded them of the way.
"It only took me two days to make the journey," Parsley said, "But I only had myself to worry about, so depending on what cats decide to join you, it could easily take your group twice as long or more."
"If any decide to join us," Deer added, glancing around at the edges of the clearing.
Parsley didn't wait around, but the brothers weren't waiting long before the first cats arrived, a long haired dark gray tom with black fur like a shadow on the top of his head, along his back, and on his tail. He was accompanied by a scarred old black she-cat, and the two had matching amber eyes.
"We do have cats joining us," Root said, casting his brother a smile.
"Two," Deer agreed.
"So far."
"I don't recall if we've met personally," the gray and black tom said, "My name is Black, and this is my mother, Horse."
"We haven't, I am Root, and this is my brother Deer, we're glad to have you with us," Root said, then asked "What's a horse?"
"Very large animals, similar to deer," Horse replied, "There are twolegs who like to keep them. I was born at a farm, not too far from here, that had horses."
"Have you both eaten this morning?" Deer asked.
"Yes, we just ate," Black replied, "Difficulty finding food on our own was not the reason we decided to join you."
"We agree with your ideals," Horse said, "I like the idea of no cats being left to die, and everyone taking care of each other. We took care of each other on the farm, my family and the other barn cats."
"I'm more skeptical than Horse is," Black admitted, "But I'm willing to give it a try."
There was a rustling in the woods, and the group stood warily, waiting to see who or what was coming. Cats didn't usually make so much noise, but it was a cat that stepped out into the clearing, a brown tabby she-cat, followed by three other she-cats.
"Hound," Root greeted, "I was hoping the four of you would come."
"It's no secret that we're struggling on our own," Hound said, "I liked the idea of a clan, cats living together and helping each other, from the moment I first heard about it. Even if you hadn't spoken yesterday, we still would have gone."
Root introduced the she-cats to Black and Horse. There was Hound's sister, Loud, a pretty brown and white tabby with blue eyes. Their mother was called Wild, also a brown and white tabby, though Loud had a lot more white on her than Wild did. Last, there was Breeze, a pale tortoiseshell and Hound's remaining kit.
"Have all of you eaten?" Root asked.
"We shared two pieces of prey," Hound said.
"Then take two more," Root urged, nodded towards the prey he and his brother had caught."
"Are you sure?" She asked.
"Yes, that's what it's here for."
The she-cat selected the smallest two to share with her family.
It was while Hound and her family ate that another cat appeared, a silvery gray she-cat with black spots, a pregnant belly, and a bundle of plants held in her mouth.
She padded to the center of the group and dropped the bundle, then began dividing it into small piles, the same number of piles as there were cats.
"Everyone should eat these herbs," she said, "They will help us keep up our strength and energy."
"Eating leaves will do that?" Black asked, sounding skeptical.
"Yes," the she-cat replied, "Wandering cats like Parsley often eat them before traveling again, these are daisy, sorrel, and chamomile."
"I say it's worth a try," Root said, licking up his pile of herbs.
He wrinkled his nose against the bitter taste, but didn't complain.
"What is your name?" Deer asked, "I've seen you around a couple of times, but we've never really met."
"They call me Spots," she said, "And if I'm being perfectly honest, I mostly want to join you because I will be kitting soon enough, and I'm worried about being able to raise them on my own, as my last litter didn't make it."
"Well, there are three experienced she-cats here," Horse said, "You won't have to worry anymore."
"Thank you," Spots said, then glanced at the remaining piece of prey, "I've eaten this morning."
"Root and I will have it in that case," Deer said, "Then we should leave, we've waited long enough, if any other cats want to come they will have to catch up."
When the brothers had eaten, and everyone had been convinced to try the herbs, Root took a long look at his group. They had four, maybe more, cats capable of hunting. Little Breeze was untrained, he didn't know about Horse, Loud was deaf, Wild hadn't hunted for herself in moons, and though Spots must have been feeding herself somehow, he didn't like the idea of making a heavily pregnant cat hunt for the group.
As Parsley had said, Root guessed that their travel time was at least doubled.